Secret files reveal how police tracked Netaji nephew Amiya Nath

Updated: Friday, September 18, 2015, 21:01 [IST]

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Kolkata, Sep 18: From intercepting letters to keeping track of his movements as well as the speeches he made and the meetings he attended, Amiya Nath Bose, the nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, was constantly under the scanner of police.

Secret documents declassified by the West Bengal government on Friday reveal that all letters addressed to and from Netaji's Elgin Road residence in Kolkata were intercepted, photographed and records of the same were maintained.

A separate file on Amiya Nath Bose, maintained by the Special Branch of the city police, contains copies of the intercepted letters and records of all the meetings he attended as well the speeches made in those meetings.

One of the letters dated May 13, 1948, by Professor Robert Stigler from Vienna to Amiya Nath mentions a "secret discussion and agreement" made in Lacknergasse in Austria.

"Doctor Bose, Do you remember me still from Vienna where we had some secret discussion and agreements, 1938? I heard no more from you after the beginning of the war with Russia. Hope you are still safe and sound and would be extremely interested to get news from you," reads the letter intercepted on June 30, 1948 at the Elgin post office.

The note on the file with "very secret" written on it says the letter was "delivered" after a copy of it was kept by police.

The files also reveal police keeping records of meetings attended by Amiya Nath, the son of Netaji's older brother Sarat Chandra Bose.

Also an eminent lawyer, he was India's ambassador to Burma in the 1970s.

In another document in the fle, it was stated that Amiya was entrusted by the Socialist Republican Party to collect arms for the party.

The note dated November 18, 1947 says the interrogation of Amar Basu, an Azad Hind Ambulance Corp member, revealed that the "Socialist Republican Party was contemplating simultaneous actions in Pakistan and Indian dominions.

"And Amiya Basu (name underlined) and Amar Basu entrusted with the task of collecting arms for the party," reads the report.

Details of Amiya's address at the Postal and Telephone Employees meet on January 2, 1948 were also recorded wherein he as the president of the federation "condemned the alleged high-handedness of captain P.C. Basu, the assistant post master general and a resolution was passed for his immediate transfer from Bengal".

Records of similar meetings and speeches made by Amiya were maintained with his name being underlined.

Declassified files by the union home ministry and placed in the National Archives earlier this year too revealed that Netaji's family members were under intensive surveillance between 1948 and 1968.

"There are many others files with the central and foreign governments which reveal how the Nehru government spied upon the Bose family with a special eye on Amiya Nath," Amiya's son Chandra Kumar told IANS.

"Was Amiya Nath Bose a dreaded don that as many as 16 IB officers were instructed to keep a track on him? He was under surveillance even during foreign visits. The central government must act now," said Chandra Kumar, reiterating the demand for declassification of over 100 files with the central government.

The Bose family will be meeting Modi in October with their demand not only for declassification of the central government files but also files maintained by the Russian and British spy agencies on Netaji.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who examined the files kept in the Kolkata Police Museum here, said the spying on the Bose family was unfortunate.

"There are intercepts. I have seen the documents and it is clear from them that the family of Netaji was spied upon. I will say its unfortunate... after independence the honour that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose should be given that is missing," said Banerjee, who had announced the declassification of the files on September 11.

Banerjee also said she had come across documents in the files that refer to Netaji being alive after 1945.

"There are certain letters where many have said that he was alive after 1945," she added.

Former Trinamool Congress MP and Bose family member Krishna Bose, who was handed over the first copy of the digitised declassified 64 files, also expressed anguish over the spying issue.

"Can you believe that each and every letter addressed to us were intercepted?" she said.